Late spring and early summer are a glorious time to be in Herefordshire. But with rising temperatures and more sunshine come more tourists -- and renewed public concern about the River Wye.

At this time of year Herefordshire is full of the joys of spring. But for me this has also been a sad period, for we have lost three great figures from our county, each of whom I massively liked and admired.

Last year I had the opportunity to visit the remarkable Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry. The MTC is a huge, state-of-the-art set of facilities dedicated to showcasing the very best of today's manufacturing technologies.